Epiphone Songmaker DR-100, Dreadnought Acoustic Guitar - Natural

This is hands-down one of the best sounding guitars in this price range (the $100-ish budget range). I am quite blown away by how great it sounds-- it's very similar to any of the solid-wood Epiphone Masterbilt guitars, which is also a great bargain because they sound just like their Gibson counterparts (e.g. the AJ) -- which sound somewhere between a Martin and a Taylor -- not too dark/muddy as some Martins can get, and not too harsh/bright which most Taylors are... It's just perfect. Really great projection/volume too when you do full strum, and clear articulation and voice at any volume. I keep saying to myself, how do they make any money off this thing? Almost all "beginner" or budget guitars that I've played sound very shallow and "boxy" (like the sound is coming from a small cardboard box). They all do this-- any cheap Yamaha, Takamine, Washburn, whatever. But this DR-100 (also known as PR-100 if sold by Guitar Center/Musician's Friend) is just miles above those other guitars in sound quality and voice. I would say this sounds like a $500-800 guitar. Whether you're an experienced player looking for a backup guitar (which is why I bought mine-- wanted a laminate guitar that I don't have to worry about and just leave out and play whenever at the office or take with me outside), or a beginner, this is the perfect guitar and most bang for your buck at $100... plus it's a Epiphone with a lifetime guarantee and not some no name brand... Of course, a guitar can't be perfect at this price range, so I'll tell you where they cut corners. They didn't cut corners on the finish-- the finish is very nice and glossy and the binding is very nice and has a lot of great details such as the nice big headstock. But here's where it needed some work: The frets. Ouch. They needed to be dressed BADLY. They were so sharp that I think you can really cut and bleed sliding up and down the neck... I spent a good 30 minutes just filing it down and smoothing it out as best as I could and now it's so much better. You can tell these were just pressed in by machines in a factory and that's it-- no one hand dressed them and filed them down and finished them-- that sort of manual hand labor is where it costs money and this easily can be a $500+ guitar... The other part that they cheaped out on are the tuner machines. They are not terrible, and fairly usable, but they aren't the best. If I had to modify one thing on this guitar, it would be to swap out the tuning machines with some good Grovers and call it a day. Specifically, when you turn the tuner, for the first 1/16 of a turn, it doesn't do anything, and then it turns and then sometimes it doesn't do anything... So it's not a 1:1 translation of turning it and the turning changing, which makes tuning the guitar a bit cumbersome. I was lucky to have bought the guitar and it didn't need a truss rod adjustment and the action was fairly good. I did file down the saddle nut about .5mm to lower it a bit more, but that's really it. Even with the crap strings that come with the guitar, it sounds good and that's what I'm basing this review on, so obviously with a better set of strings (I like the Elixir Polyweb in Light or Medium) it only sounds better. The stock strings corroded easily (noticeably changed colors) so I took off the strings from one of my other acoustic guitars and put them on this one. In short, based on just the sound of the guitar-- I'm amazed that a laminate guitar sounds like a mid-level solid wood guitar. At this price, I don't have to worry about it getting dinged up or whatever, and yet it plays beautifully. I believe the Tak Jasmine S35 also gets good reviews for its sound, but I haven't had a chance to play it in person, so I can't compare...

It's basic. But it looks great and sounds great. I don't need a $500+ acoustic... I'm not playing live shows. This is just something to strum away on when I don't want to use one of the electric guitars. The coolest thing is that the sunburst color really pops. Epiphone did a great job on the paint. The sides and back are just medium stained while the front is black with the orange burst. There is trim around the body pieces. The pick guard needs a good heavy wipe since the plastic sticker leaves residue. The Epiphone E is proudly displayed. Guitar stays in tune. Comes pre-strung with decent strings. I prefer a slightly lighter gauge, so these will be changed as soon as these start wearing. Includes a truss rod which you should NEVER use. I don't know why they included it. You can literally snap the neck if you don't know what you are doing. On a guitar this affordable, I just play with the factory setting. But if you want to raise the neck (to make the strings closer to the fretboard) then please have someone do it who is experienced with this process. Otherwise it's a $120 mistake. Came packed tightly in a good box, wrapped in protective covering and padded with much bubble wrap. Does not include any picks or capo or extra strings. No case. No strap. So basically it is the guitar as is. No frills. Which is good, because I hate paying for cheap accessories that I won't end up using or just replacing anyway. If this if your FIRST guitar (congratulation on getting a terrific guitar from an amazing brand!) I recommend getting picks if you so desire (I use Fender medium gauge celluloid). Also a strap if you want. A capo is important for many songs, so make sure to get one soon. And a tuner - mainly I use it when re-stringing (make sure it can tune both electric and acoustic - you set it against the guitar for acoustic and plug in for electric). Avoid a lot of the lumped together bargain deals on Amazon, these are usually lower quality. And a stand and case are also nice. Make sure to stow the guitar away from traffic areas since acoustics are much touchier than electrics (mostly), knocking it down can do irreparable damage if it dings the body, especially the back. Bottom line: don't get one of those off brand sub $100 guitars. I have read too many horror stories. Epiphone crafts good guitars and I have played many of their instruments over the years. My favorite guitar is the Epiphone Les Paul Classic (in black!). And since I don't want to spend $2500 for the Gibson version, Epiphone is just fine. Until you hit about $350, this is arguably one of the better guitars out there. At $350 you can get some amazing Yamaha acoustics and can even select your body material (love the mahogany). But sub $300, there are a couple of Fenders and a couple of Ovations that are good, but this is a solid choice. My one negative is that this is made in China and then inspected in the US. But for this price I guess you can't get an American or Japanese made guitar. Sadly those are going to start at about $500 for most quality brands.

I have owned other electric guitars but am still a beginner so my input is limited the physical quality of this model guitar. I tend to go overboard when buying things and like to stick to the higher end products. But from all my web searching this seemed to be a good guitar for beginners for a cheap price. It came in a well packed box with plenty of foam padding wrapped around the guitar. Unpackaging this guitar i was so excited the sunburst looked amazing and glossy. After close inspection i found a few flaws. But keep in mind these are not hand made like gibsons. These are machine made in china and hand inspected. First thing i noticed were the strings. There was a fair amount of rust on the strings in some spots and the low E string actually had the winding gouged off in one spot. Second was the paint on the top of the body had some imperfections around the sound hole. Things like the black paint didnt have perfect coverage on the inner lip of the hole. Third was the edging around the back had a spot where it didnt have enought acrylic coating like something had touched it while it was wet. Fourth was there was excess glue on the nut and it didnt fit perfectly flush to the fingerboard. As said i cant really comment to in depth on the sound or how it plays since i am still a beginner. But to me it sounds good. Nice bright tone to it and stays in tune pretty well. With all that said after changing the strings i love the guitar. I told myself i was not going to go overboard on another guitar to try and learn on. All things considered even with its few imperfections it is a great guitar and Epiphone is a name brand(china made gibson). But to be able to buy a name brand musical instrument for 100 dollars to learn on is amazing. I would not think twice to buy this guitar again if i had to.

I am an intermediate level guitar player, who was looking for an acoustic guitar to leave laying around the house or to play by a campfire. This guitar is perfect for that, it was inexpensive enough that I can play it anywhere or let anyone play it without worrying about what could happen to it. I am not saying that it is not a good instrument, it would be a perfect guitar for someone who is looking to learn how to play. Quality: For the price range, I am impressed with the quality of the guitar. I bought the guitar with the sunburst finish. It looks high quality, and has been resistant to pick scratches. The neck plays well, but the edges of the frets could use a little bit of filing. I would expect to have to do some fret work on any guitar of this price range. The bridge pins and nut seem to be a low quality plastic, but that is to be expected. The tuners work well, and it holds tune okay. Sound: The guitar sounds okay. With the stock strings it did not have a very deep, warm sound, but a better set of strings helped. I would not use this guitar gigging, but it sounds good enough for what I bought it for. Overall, I am happy with my purchase of this guitar. It fits what I was looking for when I bought a guitar in this price range. If you are a beginning guitar player, this would be a good instrument to start on before moving to a more expensive model in the future. If you found this review helpful, please click helpful below.

So I will start this review off with it’s arrival. I ordered the DR-100 November 11 and it arrived surprisingly at my front door on November 15 , around noon. Prior to ordering this particular guitar I had researched quite a bit, wanting to make sure I was making the right decision as to picking my first guitar. I have had musical experience for most of my life, and now at age 17 I have been struken with a overwhelming urge to play the guitar. Along with seeing the feedback in the reviews, along with the price- I thought I couldn’t go wrong. Damn was I right. The packaging was better than I expected. It had cardboard, and bubble wrap protecting it along with the guitar itself being wrapped. It came with a couple of booklets on some of Epiphone’s products and company information. Besides from being absolutely shocked and astonished from the sunburst appearance and finish, even my mother (who played guitar for 16 years in her early days) was trying to snatch it away. The mahogany tones of the wood is very attractive, the fit of the guitar is comfortable, and the finish is quite stunning. Close up everything seems to be in place. When it comes to details, it’s not 100% perfect- as there are slight imperfections (VERY SLIGHT) when it comes to color lining around the sound whole, and the tuning pegs. So after being speechless for a couple minutes I begun to test the sound. Obviously, while assuming, the strings would not be much in-tune, I went ahead and tuned the strings. The sound that emitted from the guitar was very rich and filled the room with warm vibrancy. I have played violin for some time and I’m not sure if that validates what I’m about to say, but the guitar itself produces a exceptionally high quality sound. If I were to have any complaints it would be the strings. I have had the guitar for two days now, and while not being able to put the damn thing down- the strings do indeed buzz. It could be a tad bit irritating when transiting from chord to chord. As for staying in tune, it does loosen up a bit easily after a couple hours. I’m not sure if it’s because it needs more time to set or not, but just throwing it out there. So with that being said- I am ordering some DR rare’s, and would recommend switching them out for something with better quality. The keyboard 'feels' amazing. The fit and hold encourages me to play it more. I do have skinny womanly fingers, so I'm not sure how that would coincide for someone else when it comes to the sizing. Over all, whether a beginner or not, this guitar is perfect to your needs. Jam on, strum your heart out, bang it up (if you have the money to do so), and enjoy it. Because I can already tell that this guitar is well worth so MUCH more then it’s being sold for. It’s beautiful, beautiful enough for a name in which I still need to come up with. ~I will update my review in a month or so~

I'm sure a lot of people cross shop this guitar with some of the cheaper offerings from Rogue like the RA-100D, so I'm going to compare the two as I have experience with both. I'm a new guitar player but I have played Sax for years and, having owned several, have a good sense of quality instruments, so take this as you will. All in all I'm very happy with this guitar and have no reason to spend more money on something better right now. It's a great guitar for learning and lacks nothing that prevents you from progressing. Something I've learned over the years is you really just want a nice quality instrument to learn on. You don't need perfect quality high end, but really low end instruments have deficiencies that can cause distractions and hinder your learning. I purchased this guitar after I gave away my Rogue RA-100D. I had previously purchased the Epiphone Les Paul Special II and was very happy with the quality for the price, so when I was looking to get another acoustic I went with the brand I knew. Now the Rogue was by no means an awful guitar. It was my first guitar, and I was lucky in my purchase of it and was actually surprised by the quality for the money. I had originally paid $70 on sale, and the 100D is two steps up from the "starter" and RA-090D, all Dreadnought style guitars made by "Rogue". The frets were smooth and didn't chew up my palm like an awful electric I tried previously, the body was solid, the tuners were perfectly functional and the finish was decent. Perfectly suitable for learning and the sound (to me) was fine once I replaced the strings. Problem is Rogue is just a brand name, I have no idea who the actual company that makes them is, they don't seem to have a website and nobody to contact if I had an issue with it. That said, it's a $70 guitar, what more do you want? As I said I had tried a cheap budget electric guitar from here so I could learn with Rocksmith 2014, so I bought the "Legacy Solid Body Electric", and it was awful. Intonation was off, it wouldn't stay in consistent tune, the finish was imperfect and had bubbles and chips, and worst of all the edges of the frets were sharp and would scrape up my palm as I played. Sound was terrible as well, so I sent it back within a week. So having one good and one bad experience with these cheap knock-off guitars, I decided to go with what I knew should be good and looked for another Epiphone. The Epiphone DR-100 was the closest match to what I was learning on before and it was reasonably priced. Compared to the $70 Rogue RA-100, what does the extra $30 for the Epiphone DR-100 get you? Well, the body of the Epiphone is not quite as thick/deep, which is something that affects the sound slightly, but not very much. Overall I'd say the Epiphone is more consistent in tone, a little less rich than the bigger, more bulbous Rogue. That said, I think I like the size of the Epiphone better, it sits in my lap better, easier to get my arm around it, but I think the Rogue had the ability to get a little louder due to the body size. Build quality - The Rogue wasn't bad, but the Ephiphone is clearly better The details are much nicer, the lacquer finish is more consistent, and if you look inside the body the workmanship is clearly more clean and consistent with the Epiphone. Features - Tuning machines feel virtually the same to me between the two. The nut is plastic on both guitars, I don't know enough to say one is better than the other. The Epiphone has a strap pin on the heel, something the Rogue did not have, which means if you use a strap with the rogue you'll need a head strap loop. The truss is adjustable on the Epiphone, not on the Rogue. Both have the same number of frets. A nice detail for beginners on the Epiphone are the marks on the edge of the head to note frets when you look down. I replaced the strings on both guitars shortly after I bought them, but just to note the strings on the Rogue appeared like they were corroded or old when I got it. Not a big deal, it's usually a safe bet to just put fresh strings on a brand new guitar anyway, but just something to note.

I'm still learning, but after comparing it to others in stores and of my friends I like it more than most guitars that are 3 or 4 times the price. They obviously needed to take some shortcuts to make such a nice looking, well built, quality sounding, easy to play guitar for this cheap, but they are mostly inconsequential. For example, the pick guard just has a printed logo instead of the metal Epiphone applique found on their higher end models. There isn't a built-in tuner but you'll have an easier time tuning with an external tuner anyways, I love my Snark SN-5 Tuner for Guitar, Bass and Violin , it's cheap and easier to use. Also, there isn't an amp output on it, but it can play very loud acoustically and if you're starting out it's unlikely you'll need to amplify beyond that anytime soon. The only reason to pause before buying this one, is if you want to use an amp or a game/e-learning app like Rocksmith 2014 Edition - PC/Mac (Cable Included) , you'll need the amp out and a modern PC or game system, and you'd probably be better off with a cheap Epiphone electric. Also, the strings seem a little lighter than some others I've tried, it seems to me that this makes playing notes easier, at the expense of a little string buzzing until your technique improves. Overall, I think this guitar is an exceptional value, it has it where it counts at a price that's fantastic.

Here's a sad story.... After spending a month researching acoustic guitars for beginners, I narrowed my choices to this Epiphone DR-100 and very similar Fender and Yamaha models. I figured any one of them would make a great Christmas gift for my son, and I was really excited about my gift idea. My research relied heavily on recently-published recommendations of top acoustic guitars for beginners, and reviews by buyers and guitar aficionados of guitars as well as what they said about manufacturer support -- i.e., the company's reputation for standing behind their work. Price was also a top consideration, because I didn't know if my son would really get into playing the guitar; I wasn't going to spend big bucks on a top-of-the-line guitar that would only sit there until I gave up and sold it. I finally decided on and purchased an Epiphone DR-100 in mid-November 2019 as a Christmas gift. The guitar arrived quickly and the packaging was in perfect condition. I hid it until Christmas. My son was very pleased to get this gift. However, within a few months the neck of the guitar showed warping that got increasingly worse. Frets on the part of the neck closest to the body were no longer functional because the neck was so warped. Only the frets closest to the head work as designed. Foolish me didn't actually read the warranty before purchasing this guitar, I just went with the reputation I'd read about. Well, the warranty requires the product to be registered within 15 days of the original date of purchase (note that detail -- it's not within 15 days from the date you receive it). I didn't do that -- that deadline fell on Thanksgiving weekend (!), I didn't know about that important bit of fine print, and I had stashed the box because it was a Christmas gift. When my son showed me the warping I tried contacting Epiphone, a Gibson company, through their website (the "Contact Support" page) to get warranty support. I also contacted the vendor, MusicYo. Epiphone/Gibson never replied. MusicYo replied promptly and recommended I register the guitar even though it had been more than 15 days since I had purchased it. I did so; Epiphone/Gibson never replied to my registration or the additional attempts I made to contact them. By this time it was May 2020. Nothing from Epiphone/Gibson, and nothing useful from MusicYo - each of their six or so responses included nice words, like they wished me success with the manufacturer, they were contacting the manufacturer on my behalf and to given them 3 or so days, they wanted me to let them know if there was anything they could do, etc. When I finally gave up and told MusicYo yes, I wanted to return it for refund or replacement, they said I needed to work that through Amazon. So, I tried going through Amazon... too late! By now that time limit had also just run out. There was no support or satisfaction from the manufacturer, the vendor, or from Amazon. So I took this as-new guitar to a local music store to see if I could pay them to do some adjustments to fix it, maybe work the truss rod to straighten out the neck. Nope, it was close to its limit already, and there was essentially no change despite the luthier's best efforts. I felt really bad and couldn't rightly leave it at that -- sorry son, your gift is a bust, maybe it'll be better next year. So I went back into the music store and bought the Yamaha model, which is what I should have done right from the start. My boy loves it and plays every day, which is rewarding especially because he has so much more time given this pandemic craziness -- but I sure wish I had my money back from that Epiphone lemon. My recommendation to anyone considering it is to pick a different guitar. In my experience, the Epiphone DR-100 guitar is effectively a rip-off, a waste of money. I'd give Craftsmanship a rating of 0 stars if I could, but for Value I suppose it still deserves 1 star since some frets still function. And if it worked properly, the features would make it a great guitar for beginners, but because it doesn't work properly I'd leave that at 1 star. If you have to buy one, please register it immediately so you can maybe get some warranty satisfaction if you also get a lemon. If I get any satisfaction from Gibson or MusicYo in response to my review, I'll update this. But no, I'm not holding my breath for that to happen!

Epiphone - built quality is far better than my yamaha guitars i have - This one with attached marshal strings goes so smooth - not d addario - or something - It will be very good if u are looking for a guitar that can last upto your last age . I m happy - just colour is too normal , not fancy for my kinda stage shows

Aun estoy aprendiendo a tocar y no quería gastarme demasiado en una guitarra nueva. Sin duda ésta es mi mejor recomendación. Una marca de calidad a un precio asequible. - La guitarra me llegó bien embalada y protegida sin ningún daño. - Estéticamente la guitarra es muy bonita, con mucho brillo en una terminación clásica, con el puente en mate y un clavijero grande característico muy elegante. - Tiene una forma más profunda en su parte inferior de la caja y más estrecho en la parte superior que la hace muy cómoda. - El diapasón tiene un tacto muy suave. - El sonido es potente y limpio, no me trastea nada. Trae una llave para ajustar el alma. - Como punto "negativo" solo puedo señalar al logo del protecctor, no es muy bonit, parece el símbolo del euro, pero es un detalle sin importancia. Una gran guitarra a un precio pequeño. 100% recomendable.

A beautiful acoustic guitar with a wonderful pleasant sound. It was definitely worth the buy. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to start playing guitar.

Très bonne guitare, ne vous fié pas au prix ! Beau son. Excellente qualité. Très important, le changement d'humidité ne l'affecte que très peu car elle est en bois laminé contrairement au bois solide (plein) qui est très affecté. Selon mes recherches sur le web, le bois laminé ne veut pas dire pas chère ... certaines guitares laminées peuvent coûter plus de 2000$ et certains experts ne voient pas la différence de son. Donc faites vos propres recherche ! Je donne un truc pour toutes les débutant en guitare acoustique Pour ceux qui ont de la misère avec les 3 petites cordes d'acier très coupantes ... il est possible de remplacer les 6 cordes par celles en nylon comme les d'Addario EJ32. Bien sûr le son va être plus doux et moins métalique un peu comme une guitare classique ! Par contre, l'effet tranchant va complètement disparaître car chacune des cordes tire beaucoup moins et les 3 petites cordes sont beaucoup plus grosses. Par contre, il faudra aller voir un expert (exemple un luthier) pour modifier la grosseur des encavures sur la NUT car les 3 petites cordes sont environ 2 fois plus grosses qu'en acier (donc ces 3 petites cordes n'entreront pas sur la Nut sans modification !). Le luthier relaxera aussi la Truss Rod un peu car les 6 cordes (nylon) tirent environ 90 livres contre 160 livres pour les cordes en acier. Le luthier ajustera aussi la hauteur des cordes au dessus du Fingerboard pour que les cordes demandent seulement un minium d'effort à presser pour atteindre le Fret. En se qui concerne ma DR-100, le luthier n'a fait qu'un léger travail pour mettre des cordes de nylon car tout était déjà pratiquement parfait dès le départ !

Nice sound good feel good